asg 12 eco design

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chapter
Eco-design
Environment concern shall take into account
several requirements as:
selection of raw materiel at the design stage,
energy consumption during operation,
recycling capability at the end of lifetime.


12. Eco-design

Summary

1
2
12.1

Foreword

280

12.2

Concepts and main directives

281

12.3

Standards

282

12.4

Eco-design

283

12.5

Lifecycle

283

12.6

Main rules of eco-design

284

12.7

Conclusion

287

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4
5
6
7

12.8

Applications

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12. Eco-design

12.1

12.1

Foreword

Foreword
The term “eco-design” means products (goods and services) designed

with the environmental factor in mind.
It implies that this factor is included with the rest of the conventional
design ones (customer requirements, cost control, technical feasibility,
etc.) (C Fig.1).
This policy involves different players in the economy – suppliers,
producers, distributors, consumers, and private buyers – who wish to
offer or choose products that offer the same service but are more
environment-friendly.
Because is it upstream of the decision-making process, eco-design is a
preventive policy. It is based on a global attitude, a multicriteria approach
to the environment (water, air, soils, noise, waste, energy, raw materials,
etc.) encompassing all the stages in the lifecycle of a product: raw
material extraction, production, distribution, use and disposal at the end
of the lifetime.

A Fig. 1

Environmental parameters

This double nature of eco-design (multicriteria and multiple stages) is
what may be called its signature.
Investigation methods can be described as in-depth or simplified
depending on the degree to which they keep account of environmental
impact throughout the product lifecycle.
Excerpt from the definition of eco-design by Ademe (the French environment and
energy agency).

In this guide, we propose a general methodology for eco-design which
can be used for any new development of products or services and for
new versions of existing ones.

b Introduction
It is Schneider Electric’s policy to act as an environmentally responsible
company. As regards to products and services, this means that ecodesign has to be part of any new development and any new version of
existing ones if we want to mitigate the environmental impact of our
products throughout their lifetime.
To achieve this goal, this guide must:
- state the environmental policy of Schneider Electric, the main object
of which is to promote respect for all natural resources and act
positively and constantly for a better environment for all;
- outline the main European regulations that will soon apply to us, in
order to plan ahead;
- provide designers with a methodology to help them design ecofriendly products/services;
- describe the EIME software available from Schneider Electric for
designers to use in eco-friendly design projects

b Schneider Electric’s environmental policy
For Schneider Electric, behaving as an environmentally and, more widely,
a socially responsible company contributes to performance by promoting
relevance in long-term decision-making and winning the support of all
partners in the group: employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.
Schneider Electric therefore aims to be a “socially responsible company”
wherever it is established throughout the world. This includes compliance
with a dynamic and ambitious environmental policy based on the
following principles:

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12. Eco-design

12.1
12.2

Foreword
Concepts and main directives

• Environmental protection as part of management policy
- by taking the requisite steps to make respect for the environment an
integral part of Schneider Electric’s common culture and a natural
approach to all our work and throughout our industry;
- by promoting environmental protection within Schneider Electric,
through awareness raising, training and communication in line with our
environmental policy;
- by providing our customers, suppliers and partners with relevant
information.
• Sustainable environment-friendly industrial development
- by adopting an ongoing positive approach to mitigate the
environmental impact of our products/services throughout their
lifecycle;
- by developing more environment-friendly new products/services and
manufacturing procedures with special attention to forward planning;
- by using new techniques that help to conserve natural resources and
control our products’ power consumption;
- by designing our products with a view to making them recyclable;
- by complying with current directives and anticipating new ones.
• ISO 14001 certification for all our sites
- by adopting an environmental management system based on the
international ISO 14001 standard;
- by building and running our sites in a way worthy of Schneider

Electric’s local image, in compliance with rulings in force and going
further whenever relevant,
- By eliminating or reducing waste and improving its recovery;
- by ongoing improvement of current manufacturing processes to
optimise their environmental impact.

12.2

Concepts and main directives
b Main concepts
v Since 1987, the concept of sustainable development has been an
incontrovertible reference with regard to protection of the environment. It
can be resumed as follows:
- development which meets the needs of society today, without
preventing future generations from meeting their own needs.

v The European Union’s 6th Environment Action Programme
(drawn up for the next ten years), designed to implement sustainable
development, is based on the precautionary principle, the principle of
tackling pollution at the source and priority to preventive measures and
the polluter pays principle (Treaty of Amsterdam).

v The main objective of the IPP (Integrated Product Policy), a priority
of the Action Programme, is:
- in relation to the concept of sustainable development, to stimulate
environment-friendly product and service supply (eco-design,
information on lifecycles) and demand (awareness, communication,
provision of raw material and services more environmental friendly).

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12. Eco-design

12.2
12.3

Concepts and main directives
Standards

b Main directives
The main directives based on these concepts, currently in the European
discussion stage, are:

v EUP (Energy Using Product): Based on the IPP concept, this aims to
standardise the design of electric and electronic equipment to ensure its free
circulation and mitigate its environmental impact throughout its lifecycle,
ensure more efficient use of resources and protect the environment in a way
compatible with sustainable development.
v WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment)
- To reduce waste from electric and electronic equipment and, for this
reason, commit the producer to recovering and recycling (70 to 80%
in weight) equipment at the end of its lifetime.

v RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)
- To restrict the use of certain substances considered hazardous for the
environment and especially for health. These are heavy metals: lead (Pb),
mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (Cr6) and

polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated biphenyl ether
(PBDE) flame retardants.
Use of a number of other substances not covered by this directive should
also be avoided. The EC jury is still out on the subject of PVC, the use and
recycling of which are controlled by some local regulation.

12.3

Standards
In addition to the European directives, there are a number of other
standards to regulate inclusion of environmental aspects in product
design. These include:

b ISO, NF and EN standards
- ISO 140xx: a set of environmental management standards;
- ISO TC 61: plastics – environmental aspects;
- ISO 64 guide: inclusion of environmental aspects in product
standards;
- NF FD X30 310: inclusion of environmental aspects in product design;
- EN 13428 to 13432: packaging – environmental aspects.
This non-exhaustive list gives some idea of the rules on the inclusion of
environmental aspects in product design. Designers have to consider
them as well as the usual standards and directives such as:
- LVD: Low Voltage Directive;
- IEC 60 947- 2: low voltage device standard – circuit breakers;
- IEC 60 947- 4 - 1: switchgear and control gear standard.
Note: there are also a number of national regulations (batteries, packaging, etc.)
in addition to these standards and directives.

As an environmentally responsible company, Schneider Electric develops

new, more environment-friendly products/services and manufacturing
procedures compliant with the above directives, standards and rules and
also plans ahead for them by implementing eco-design.

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12. Eco-design

12.4

12.4
12.5

Eco-design
Lifecycle

Eco-design
Eco-design, an important feature of sustainable development, as we saw
in the foreword, is a proactive customer-oriented approach which can be
defined as follows:
- products/services designed to best satisfy customer requirements and
mitigate their environmental impact throughout their lifecycle.
It involves ongoing dynamic progress which can, by common upstream
thinking (techniques, marketing, training, etc.) change a restriction into an
opportunity. This is clearly the strategy manufacturers should strive to
follow.
This strategy, which should apply as much to design of new products as
upgrading of existing ones, implies that the designer must include a
further criterion when seeking solutions: minimum environmental impact

throughout the entire lifecycle (C Fig.2).

A Fig. 2

12.5

Balance between design criterias

As stipulated in the EUP directive, the choice of an “optimal” solution
meeting customer requirements must be consistent with maintaining a
reasonable balance between the design criteria:
- performance, cost, quality, environment, industrialisation, etc., as well
as complying with safety and health criteria.

Lifecycle
The point of eco-design, as we have seen, is to design products/services
with a lesser impact on the environment throughout their entire lifecycle.
How can we define this lifecycle?
The lifecycle of a product goes from the “cradle to the grave”, i.e. from
the extraction of the raw material to ultimate disposal, via all the stages of
manufacture/assembly, distribution, use and recovery at the end of the
lifetime.
It is obvious that every stage in a product’s lifecycle has an impact on the
environment and it is this impact we must strive to mitigate. This is the
aim of eco-design, which has to take into account all the stages together
in order to prevent any improvement in the ecological behaviour of one
stage having a detrimental effect on that of the others.
This requires full detailed analysis of the lifecycle (LCA) so the right choice
can be made. This is what EIME software is for.
The end-of-lifetime recovery stage can involve major constraints and so

must be considered from the outset of product design.
To comply with regulations, recovery should cover 70% to 80% of the
product (in weight) and can be in the form of:

A Fig. 3

Product life cycle

-

repair/restoration of the product;
reuse of parts/sub-units;
recycling of materials;
energy recovery.

The lifecycle of a product can be summed up as in the diagram figure 3.

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12. Eco-design

12.6

12.6

Main rules of eco-design

Main rules of eco-design
With regard to compliance with the principal of sustainable development
and the rulings on it, we may define a number of general rules to guide
designers in all eco-design studies:
- conservation and efficient use of natural resources;
- reduction of emissions (greenhouse effect, noise, etc.);
- reduction of waste (manufacture, end of lifetime);
- prohibition or minimal use of hazardous substances;
- reduction of power consumption.
However, as we already pointed out, these general recommendations for
making more environment-friendly products are not intended to replace
regular design rules; rather they should be applied in addition to them to
optimise the response to customer requirements with the following criteria
in mind:
- performance;
- cost;
- quality;
- environment;
- industrialisation, etc.
But prior to any study, it is essential to look into how to optimise the
function required. This means asking the following questions:
- What is the best way to respond to the customer’s needs:
product/service?
- Can the product offer include an environment-friendly service offer?
- Can a product offer lead to a service offer?
- Can new concepts be introduced?
- Can some sub-units be common to several products or product
ranges?
- Should new functions be included?
- Can active materials be used?

Once the function optimisation stage is completed, the next step is to
look closely at the stages in the product’s lifecycle (choice of materials,
production, distribution, end of lifetime) to which the basic rules may
apply.

b Choice of materials
The designer can have an effect on a product’s environmental impact through
the choice of materials. So, in line with the general rules of eco-design
described above, this choice should be made using criteria targeting smaller
consumption of the raw material and lower environmental impact of the
materials used.
• Reduction of the mass and volume of materials used
- optimisation of the volume and mass of parts and products,
- reduction in number of parts.
• Choice of non-toxic or only slightly toxic materials in extraction,
production, utilisation and disposal (end of lifetime).
• Choice of materials based on renewable resources to save natural
non-renewable resources.
• Choice of power-saving materials in raw material extraction, material
processing and use.
• Use of recycled materials, the environmental impact is then due to
recycling and not production.
• Use of recycled materials with a view to product recovery at the end
of its lifetime.
It goes without saying that compliance with these environmental criteria does
not dispense the materials chosen from having to meet the usual requirements
for the product with regard to mechanical, electrical, cost and manufacturing
(casting, cutting, etc.) factors.
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12. Eco-design

12.6

Main rules of eco-design

b Production
The production stage is an important part of the lifecycle and should
never be neglected in eco-design. Design choices can have significant
effect on industrial processes and therefore on their environmental
impact.
This is why a certain number of optimisation criteria should be considered
from the outset.
• Reduction in environmental discharges (water, soils, air)
- choice of production methods that cut down environmental dumps.
Example: wherever possible, avoid surface treatments
• Reduction in power consumption at all stages of production
- choice of power-saving manufacturing, mounting and assembly
methods.
• Reduction in the amount of waste (machining, cutting, casting, etc.)
Example:
- parts designed to reduce offcuts;
- reuse of casting sprues;
- reduction of scrap.
• Reduction in the number of production stages
- example: fewer different parts.
• Less transport between stages
- less transport from plant to plant (parts, sub-units),
- less power consumed for transport,

- use of new production methods,
- new methods with a lower environmental impact than conventional
methods - BAT (Best Available Technique).

b Distribution
Product distribution is another stage in the lifecycle which can have a
substantial impact on the environment. This is why it is necessary to
optimise packaging and the distribution system itself from the outset of
product design.
To this end, in compliance with standards (EN 13428 to 13432) and the
decree published 25/07/98, the following criteria should apply.
• Reduction in the mass and volume of packaging
- reduction in volume and mass of products;
- optimisation of the packaging function.
• Fewer packages: packages common to several products
• Choice of greener packaging minimum heavy metal content (lead
cadmium, mercury, etc.)
• Packages designed to be reused or recovered
- recovery of 50 to 65% in weight;
- avoid use of different materials (cardboard, foam, etc.).
• Optimisation/reduction in transport: fewer masses and volumes to
transport
• Choice of means of transport using less fuel
As always, compliance with these criteria should not be detrimental to the
basic functions of packaging such as protection and safety.

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12. Eco-design

12.6

Main rules of eco-design

b Utilisation
Product utilisation is a stage in the lifecycle which can have a significant
effect on the environment, especially with regard to electricity consumption.
Here again, there are a number of criteria which can play a decisive part:
• Lower power consumption when the product is used
- consumption in electrical contacts (contact resistance, welds, etc.)
and bimetal strips;
- consumption by control units (electromagnets, etc.);
- power dissipated in electronic components, etc.
• Reduction in leaks and discharges into the environment
- noise reduction;
- less leakage (e.g. SF6).
• Greater product durability
• Easier maintenance and repairs
- greater product reliability;
- customer link (pre-alarm, etc.);
- modular products.
Another important point in this stage is the use of clean renewable fuels
but the designer’s impact on this does not seem decisive.

b End of lifetime
As we have already said, recovery at the end of a product’s lifetime should
be an important part of it (70 to 80% in weight) and should be taken in charge

by its producer. If this environmental criterion is to be complied with at
reasonable cost, the product must be designed so as to facilitate this
operation.
This in turn implies a certain number of criteria.
• Products easy to dismantle
- avoid the use of assembly systems that cannot be dismantled;
- modular products.
• Reuse of sub-units/components: preference for modular products
• Product repair/restoration (2nd hand)
• Recycled materials
- marked plastic parts (see technical directive FT 20 050);
- fewer different materials.
• Choice of non-toxic materials: incineration
• Easy dismantling of toxic products and/or products requiring special
processing
• Easy access to and quick dismantling of batteries, mercury relays,
electronic cards, LCD monitors, etc.
• Simple product safety devices (tension springs, etc.)
• End of lifetime guide enclosed with product
This short list of design criteria for each stage in a product’s lifecycle and the
examples to illustrate them do not claim to cover all cases of eco-design.
They are principally intended as a guide to help the designer’s thought
process.
Moreover, dividing the product’s lifecycle into major stages (choice of
material, production, distribution, utilisation and end of lifetime) should not
get in the way of the final object, which is to mitigate the overall impact of
the product from beginning to end of its lifecycle. It is therefore crucial, as
we have already said, that improvement in the ecological behaviour of one
stage should not have a detrimental effect on that of the others.
To achieve this requires full detailed analysis of the lifecycle (LCA) made.

This is what EIME software (see further in this document) is used for.

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12. Eco-design

12.7

12.7
12.8

Conclusion
Applications

Conclusion
The policy of Schneider Electric includes eco-design to:
- promote respect for all natural resources;
- constantly and positively improve conditions for a clean environment
to satisfy its customers and users of its products, its employees and
the communities where the company is established.
This constant positive progress policy can enhance the company’s
performance and should be seen as an opportunity. Therefore, eco-design,
the purpose of which is to design products/services with a lower impact on
the environment throughout their lifetime and which best satisfy customer
requirements, will be our general policy for the development of every
new product/service, and for new versions of existing ones.

12.8

Applications
b EIME software
EIME (Environmental Information and Management Explorer) is an application
to help in the design of environment-friendly products. It is owned and
controlled by Alcatel, Alstom, Legrand, Schneider Electric and Thomson
Multimedia.
It is used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product from beginning
to end of its lifecycle and guides designers in their choice of materials and
designs. It can be accessed from anywhere in the world; its database
(materials, procedures, etc.) is the same for all Schneider Electric designers
all throughout the world.
The main features of this software are:
- help in the choice of materials and procedures;
- information on compliance with regulations;
- evaluation of environmental impact (LCA);
- help in identifying weak points;
- comparison of two design options.
The environmental profile of a product built with EIME is an essential
basis for environmental product communication with customers.

b Altivar 71: an example of eco-design
Product Environment Profile (PEP)
Altivar 71 (C Fig.4) is a range designed to control and vary the rotation
speed of electric asynchronous motors.
It consists of products rated from 0.37 to 18kW with single-phase or
3-phase input voltages of 200 and 500V.
The product used for this study is the complete Altivar 71 rated 0.75kW,
500V (ref. ATV71 H075N4). It is representative of the rest of the range. The
other products in the range are built with the same technology and by the
same manufacturing process.

A Fig. 4

This product has won the “Eco-product
for sustainable development” prize

The environmental analysis was made in compliance with standard ISO
14040 “Environmental management: lifecycle analysis, principle and
framework”. It covers all the stages in the product lifecycle.

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12. Eco-design

12.8

Applications

v Constituent materials
In mass, the products in the range extend from 2680 g to 9000 g The
Altivar 71 – rated 0.75kW, 500V, weighs 2680g without packaging. The
constituent materials are made up as figure 5 :

A Fig. 5

AT71 material constituents
(*) “Others” comprises all elements at less than 1% such as shrinkable
tubing, EPDM elastomers, etc.

All our departments, suppliers and subcontractors have been briefed to
ensure that materials used in the Altivar 71 – 0.37 to 18kW range contain
none of the substances prohibited by current legislation (list available on
request) when it goes on the market.
The range is designed to need no batteries or accumulators. The site where
this product family was designed is certified ISO 14001 for its eco-design
process.

v Manufacture
The range is manufactured at a Schneider Electric production site which
has set up an environmental management system certified ISO 14001.
Ongoing process enhancement reduces the annual average power
consumption on site by 5%.
Waste is thoroughly sorted for a recovery rate of 99%.

v Distribution
The packaging is designed to cut down its weight and volume, in compliance
with the European packaging directive 94/62/EC. Its overall weight is 1080 g,
and it is made mainly of cardboard with a recyclable polyethylene bag. No
packing foam or staples are used.
The distribution channels are optimised by local distribution centres in the
vicinity of the market areas.

v Utilisation
The products in the Altivar 71-0.37 to 18kW range cause no pollution requiring
special conditions of use (noise, emissions). Their electricity consumption
depends on how they are commissioned and operated.
Their power losses spread from 44 W to 620 W. For example the Altivar
71-0.75kW, 500V losses are 44W, i.e. under 6% of the total power

circulating in it.

v End of lifetime
At the end of their lifetime, the products in the Altivar 71-0.37 to18 kW
range shall be dismantled to recover their constituent materials. Their
recycling potential is more than 80%. This includes ferrous metals, copper
and aluminium alloys and marked plastics.
The products in the range also contain electronic cards which should be
withdrawn and sent through special processing channels. The end-oflifetime data is detailed in the relevant data sheets.

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12. Eco-design

12.8

Applications

v Environmental impacts
The Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) was made with EIME (Environmental Impact and
Management Explorer) version 1.6 and its database version 5.4 (C Fig.6).
The product’s theoretical duration of use is 10 years and the electrical
power model used was the European model.
The device analysed was an Altivar 71-0.75kW, 500V.
Environmental impacts were analysed in the stages of manufacturing (M)
including processing of raw materials, distribution (D) and utilisation (U).
The environmental impact analysis was made by comparing the impacts
of a non-eco-designed and an eco-designed product. The eco-designed
product was 27% less in mass and 19% less in volume than the one from

the earlier range.
The plastics used are 100% recoverable owing to the choice of materials
and the new product architecture.
A Fig. 6

LCA comparison of impacts of Altivar
71-0.75W, 500V with and without ecodesign

These modifications result in an overall reduction in the product’s impact
on the environment.

b Product Environment
Profile - PEP
v System approach
Speed controllers help to save power by optimising the operating cycles
of asynchronous electric motors.
In a transient state, the products in the Altivar 71 - 0.37 to 18kW range
can cut more than halve the power consumption of an installation.
The figures cited for environmental impact on the previous page are solely
valid for the stated context and cannot be used as is for an environmental
assessment of an installation

v Glossary
Raw Material Depletion (RMD)
This indicator quantifies raw material consumption during a product’s
lifetime. It is expressed as a fraction of the raw materials depleted every
year in relation to their annual overall reserves.
• Water Depletion (WD)
This indicator calculates the amount of drinking water or industrial water
consumed. It is expressed in cubicmeters.

• Global Warming Potential (GWP)
Global warming is the result of the increase in the greenhouse effect
caused by greenhouse gas absorption of solar radiation reflected by the
earth’s surface. The effect is measured in grams of CO2.
• Ozone Depletion (OD)
This indicator describes the part played by emissions of specifigases in the
depletion of the ozone layer.
It is expressed in grams of CFC-11.
• Photochemical Ozone Creation (POC)
This indicator quantifies the part played by ozone-producing gases in the
creation of smog and is expressed in grams of ethylene (CH2:CH2).
• Air Acidification (AA)
Acid substances in the atmosphere are carried by rainfall. Highly acid rain
can destroy forests.
The degree of acidification is calculated using the acidification potential of
the substance and is expressed in moles of H+.

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